Back in January, I decided I wanted to formally track the usage of the items in my pantry. I was feeling like I was a hoarder who had purchased more items than they would actually use. I photographed every item (except for spices and teas and stables). I have blogged about all my usage of these items.

I started with 105 catalogued items. Along the way I have added a few more items, and even replenished some.

So, what did not use, yet?

By category, these are the items I still did not use at all in six whole months:

Chinese cuisine

Chili bean paste

Black bean paste

Fermented black beans

Chinese dried chilis

Shaoxing rice wine

Black fungus

Hoisin sauce

Hrmm. I did use all of these but the Chinese dried chilis at least once in something I improvised, but I think the dish I made was so terrible I didn’t blog about it.

Japanese cuisine

I used everything in this category!

Thai cuisine

Red sticky rice

Holy basil seasoning paste

Larb seasoning mix

Tom Ka paste

Nam prik ong paste

Thai chicken curry sauce

Pork rinds

Tamarind

Basically, I need to have people over for a Thai sticky rice meal. For another meal, I could serve a chicken dish, tom ka soup, and a red sticky rice dessert.

Indian cuisine

Dried mango powder

Panch phoron

Mixed hot pickle

Hrmm, okay, so I should find out what to do with the mango powder, at least.

What do I do with this? Make more kimchi?

Coarse sea salt

Oh! I forgot to say that I did use this when I made pickled radishes, and in general, I do find it useful. I managed to use the other items in the category for things like chili oil and Korean pancakes.

Things I put in drinks

Preserved lemons

Chinese salted plums

Salted apricots

Thai pickled limes

Instant matcha ginger latte

Powdered lemon peel

Celery salt

Matcha tea

Oh! I have used all of these except the Thai pickled limes for drinks. I guess I just never blog about drinks I make.

Ready-to-eat

Sardines with white wine

Roasted red peppers

Baked beans

The peppers turned out to be past due, the beans have been eaten and replaced, and the sardines have been superceded by new sardines and are best before next week, so I’ll put those on the “eat NOW” list.

Just use already

Instant tapioca

Thai soybean paste. I used this to replace fish sauce, since it is salty and has that fermented funk.

Ancho chiles

Clam bouillon

Flattened rice

Cheese culture

Wild rice

Pectin

Pumpkin butter

Amanda cod roe

Oh man. I threw away the cheese culture, I made tapioca pudding last week, and other than that … I have no excuses.

Unique flavourings

Hot mustard powder

Cinchona bark

Kecap manis

Pomegranate molasses

Hrmm. No comment.

Staples & Condiments

Balsamic creme

Golden syrup

Jasmine

Popping corn

Basmati rice

Thai red chili sauce

Worcestershire sauce

Vanilla extract

Sugar beet syrup

I’ve actually used six of these, just not in anything blog worthy, or I just forgot. Like, I used the vanilla in pancakes but didn’t mention it. I have used the jasmine as a tea a few times.

Tally

What’s next?

For the next six months, I think it only makes sense to give updates when I use things from the above list of as-yet-unused items. Anything I have not used by December (which seems so far away! I’ll devote myself to using over the holidays. Sounds fun?

Terminology around foods across languages and cultures is so confusing.

In Canada, no one would know what you meant if you said “farina” which is, apparently, the English term for what I have only ever called Cream of Wheat, which is a brand name. It’s the same coarseness as what is called semolina, and I often wondered about the difference. I gather from various sources that the difference is the variety of wheat, with semolina being yellow and made from hard wheat and farina is white and made from soft wheat.

I decided to do a pantry update with just one dish, so I could write down all the details of a highly successful experiment. Although I was working without a recipe, I was following tips from the colleague who recommend the brand of fish curry masala, and cross-pollinated those tips with the instructions from the side of the box of masala. I was very happy with the result: a flavourful sauce and perfectly cooked fish.